LONDON (Reuters) – Europe's biggest bank, HSBC, said its profit in the third quarter was up from a year ago as growth in Asia helped offset more than $4 billion (2.5 billion pounds) in bad debts on U.S. home loans.

(AFX UK Focus) 2008-11-10 08:47 UPDATE 1-Global crisis to hit UAE loans, real estate (Interactive Investor)
By Ola Galal

HSBC takes $4.3bn hit on US loans
HSBC's losses relating to the US housing market crisis reach $4.3bn (£2.7bn) in the third quarter.